Thousands of Jewish settlers, bristling with sophisticated weapons and swearing revenge, gathered yesterday for the funeral of a baby girl, whose killing by a Palestinian sniper led to a grotesque battle over her corpse.

As Yitzhak Pass was handed the tiny blue-shrouded figure of his 10-month-old daughter Shalhevet among the olive trees at the disputed Tomb of the Patriarchs, the voice over the loudspeaker leading the prayers choked with grief, and girls sobbed into their prayer books.

The tomb, where the biblical Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are reputedly buried, lies in the heart of this city, where an enclave of 400 Jewish settlers live in open voiced hatred with 120,000 Palestinians.

"It is not the first time our people have suffered since coming to Hebron," said a rabbi. "But there never was a killing like this - a girl less than a year old falling in a holy place like a soldier."

In Gaza, the Palestinian security chief, Mohammed Dahlan, demanded the return of five members of Force 17, Yasser Arafat's personal bodyguard, who were arrested by the Israeli army early yester day. Force 17 is accused by the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, of the drive-by shooting of Jewish motorists.

The army said six men were seized at a roadblock north of the West Bank city of Ramallah. The Palestinians described it as a kidnapping and also accused Israel of detaining 35 members of their security forces.

The 400 settlers of Hebron refused to bury Shalhevet, despite Jewish requirements for a speedy funeral, until Mr Sharon, invaded the Palestinian-ruled hills of Abu Sneineh, from where the fatal shot is believed to have been fired. Yesterday, a week after she was killed, many of the settlers still urged him to retake the ridge.

"The only way we can live in peace here is if we retake Abu Sneineh and all high places in the West Bank," Yael Ami-El said.

Despite being guarded by two helicopter gunships and hundreds of soldiers, many of the men in the funeral procession carried M-16s with telescopic sights, mini-Uzis and handguns.

Dozens wore T-shirts reading: "No Arabs, no terror," and a few lobbed stones through the windows of Palestinian houses along the route. A small cascade of stones fell on the mourners in return.

Few Palestinians shed tears for Shalhevet. About 130 of the 455 people who have been killed in the uprising were Palestinians under the age of 18, the latest an 11-year-old Ramallah boy who was also buried yesterday, after being shot in the head by an Israeli soldier.

Once again the 40,000 Palestinians of Hebron's old city were under curfew, and many said they dared not look out of their windows for fear of attracting the settlers' wrath. "We have been unable to move for ages, and they can go wherever they want," Muktasseb Metsub said through the coils of barbed wire behind her home.